Abstract

Forestry has an important role to play as a provider of energy from renewable biomass and through the sequestration of carbon in biomass and soil. Forests are also habitats for a large number of species which are important for biodiversity. In some cases, these two roles may conflict. The aim of this study was to model the implications of specific environmental quality objectives on the potential of forestry to reduce net CO2 emissions by addressing interim targets 1 and 2 in the environmental quality objective, sustainable forests for Uppsala County and used this region as a case study. The carbon stock in the biomass, the substitution effect, and the economic consequences associated with six forest management scenarios were considered. The development for the scenarios was simulated at stand level using an empirical model. The results of the study showed that the shortest rotation period was preferable to mitigate net CO2 emissions since it resulted in more biomass that could replace fossil fuel. However, such a strategy might affect sustainable policies negatively. Increasing the extent of mixed stands could be a preferable strategy since it may achieve several objectives

Published in

Forestry
2007, Volume: 80, number: 2, pages: 99-111
Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS

SLU Authors

• Eriksson, Erik

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Renewable Bioenergy Research
Forest Science
Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
Economics and Business
Social Sciences


Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpm008

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/14148